


Persona

by fellyciach



Category: IU (Musician), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fellyciach/pseuds/fellyciach
Summary: IU and BTS Suga makes all their fans scream by the mere mention of their name. They're among the biggest name in Korea entertainment industry after all, a very talented singer and artist that can make anybody fall for their charms. But not everybody really take the time to see what's hidden beneath their perfect idol image, behind their persona and public mask that they wore as IU and Suga. Will Lee Jieun and Min Yoongi loose their ego to their persona as they dabbles in the harshness of entertainment industry day by day?
Relationships: Lee Jieun | IU/Min Yoongi | Suga
Comments: 19
Kudos: 57





	1. Broken Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by the Jungian Psychology about human's persona, it refers to the social face the individual presented to the world, a kind of mask designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other hand to conceal the true nature of the individual. Fyi IU's Netflix debut series titled was Persona, and coincidentally BTS latest album also called Map Of The Soul : Persona. Well, BTS also got the inspiration for their album from Jungian Psychology. So I think this title will suit this story well. 
> 
> I really love the collaboration between IU and Suga, the song Eight was a really nice song with beautiful lyric. That's why I'm back with another IU and Suga fanfic. But this time I'll stick to the actual event and actual character. Lastly, I hope you guys will enjoy and keep supporting this story.. I purple you.. ^^

Everyone knew who IU was, or rather they thought that they knew her. When the name of IU was mentioned in a conversation, the first thing that popped up in people's minds was probably something like nation's little sister, South Korea's beloved soloist, a great actress, a talented songwriter, or something else along those lines.

They probably also talked about how she was a great entertainer, that she was lucky to have gotten her big breakthrough at such a young age, and that she was extremely talented. People knew her as the extremely popular singer-songwriter, there was hardly anyone who hadn’t heard of her in South Korea. Of course, IU was all of that; she was the bright, cheerful, and innocent singer after all.

But that’s the thing, people only knew her as IU, not as Lee Jieun. They rarely saw the girl behind IU, the girl who loved singing and music more than anything else in the world, the girl who lost her innocence in the harshness of the music industry, the girl who struggled with her inner demons every day.

They never knew that behind the sparkling stage, behind the smiles and spotlight, behind the cheers of fans, behind her happiness and all the fame, was a shadow of a person. It was impossible for her to keep smiling behind the curtain.

IU was always happy; she was always smiling regardless of the situation. But Lee Jieun was tired, Lee Jieun had gradually grown weary of everything. Yes, Lee Jieun still loved singing. She enjoyed how her voice enamoured and healed people, how it cheered them up and even inspired them. But IU wasn't just known for her singing, she was beyond the image of just being a singer, she was the embodiment of perfection, a complete package of sorts.

IU was the polite laughter that was required of her during variety shows. IU was cute and bright; she was the nation's little sister. Sure, there were days when Lee Jieun loved IU. It had always been her dream to become a singer, after all. But there were times when Lee Jieun broke under the limelight of IU, Jieun was gradually forgetting herself to keep up the image of IU, and she was sick of it. 

She hated what IU had become. Just a singer, actress and celebrity that everyone wanted her to be. She was tired of how she started to see herself from other people’s perspective, she had become what people had made her to be and not what she used to be.

The sleepless nights were filled with practice, producing, shooting dramas, and an overly packed schedule. Everything that had been normal for her, things that had kept her going and distracted her, soon started to suffocate her and she only noticed it when everything started to feel heavy not on the outside but inside. Finally, it all took a toll on her, not on IU, but on Lee Jieun.

\--

In a small restaurant in a rather shabby part of Seoul, Lee Jieun sat in a corner, drowning herself in her sorrows.

She was not a fan of alcohol, basically she doesn't like to do anything that can be bad for her vocal, drinking alcohol for example. She only drink on special occasions, like when she had something to celebrate with her co-workers and friends on a good day. 

But she felt like she really needed it that night. She had been grieving for her friend since the past few days. She had thought that after Jonghyun, she wouldn't have to deal with that kind of pain again in the future. How wrong had she been.

Not only her best friend Sulli who she had adored so much, but Hara also followed little more than a month later. The irony of how both of them had smiled, congratulating her for her new album but little did she know that they were in so much pain. She still couldn't believe that she had lost two of her friends within the time period of a month.

Some people were worried that she would be next. Well, they were right to worry. Losing her friends was her breaking point and right now, she was struggling to hold onto her sanity.

That's why she was here, trying to fill the void and the emptiness with alcohol, numbing not just her body but her brain so it would stop hurting, so that she wouldn't be in pain and she could forget–even if only for a night.

\--

It was almost midnight when Yoongi decided that he finally needed a break from his studio. It isn't all that uncommon to find him in the studio writing and composing music all day. He's such a hardworking individual and also a perfectionist. That's why he's always incredibly hard on himself. Especially now that BTS became such a big name in the industry, his worries double whenever they get ready to drop new music because he feels a burden to release good music. 

If he was a robot he'd probably spend all his day working and working non stop. But he was a human after all, and he couldn't deny his body protest any longer, he was extremely tired after a day of producing. He usually needed alcohol during such nights, it became his friend to help him stay sane.

He strolled down the streets of Seoul with his hat and mask on to hide his identity. Sure, he loved his fans, but he didn't want them to disturb his private time which was a luxury for him.

He arrived in front of a small restaurant. It was rather shabby, small, and dimly lit. There's nothing interesting that'll caught the eyes of passer by. 

People might wonder why a famous superstar like him had gone to such a place.

But that place holds so many memories of him with his members. They were regulars there when they were nobodies and barely had money for food. The ahjumma there was really nice and always give them more food than the actual portion despite not having much herself. Now that he made a lot of money, he always try to return her kindness by leaving a huge amount of tip secretly, because he know that the she would reject it if he give it straight away. 

Yoongi entered the restaurant. It was still the same as the last time he was there. He was relieved to see that the place was almost empty and only two tables were occupied. The familiar ahjumma was behind the cashier, reading a newspaper.

"Ahjumma..." Yoongi called.

The woman lifted his head and she seemed to recognize him immediately. "Ahh, is it you?"

Yoongi lowered his mask a little. "Yes ahjumma, it's me," he gave her his signature gummy smile.

"Aigoo... It's been a while since your last visit. Did you come here alone or with your members?" She seemed genuinely happy to see him.

"I'm alone, ahjumma."

The ahjumma nodded, but she didn't miss to notice his tired face and a dark bags under his eyes. It was clear that he had been working himself too hard again. Over the years she had witness him and his members grow up and went through all their phase.

It still amazed her sometimes that her regular costumer is now a famous superstar. But it warmth her heart that despite his status, he still stay humble and down to earth. 

She smiled warmly at the tired boy, "ahh... The usual?"

"No, I'll just take a soju and tteokboki, please."

"Okay," she wrote down his order. "Ahh, unfortunately your usual spot was occupied at the moment." She looked at him apologetically. 

"It's fine, I'll just sit somewhere else."

She nodded again and then excused herself to prepare his order.

Yoongi shifted his gaze to the corner of the room where he usually sat, and his eyes landed on her. He couldn't see her face properly as she was wearing glasses and a hoodie that was too big for her petite frame. But there was something familiar about her.

She lifted her head a little and that was when he recognized her. At first, he thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him. But after a second look, he was sure that the person that was currently sitting at his usual spot was indeed IU.

He was wondering what on earth was IU doing here. He could ask himself the same thing, but still, it was IU. Surely, this was not the place you would expect IU to be at.

He glanced at the tables where a man was checking her out every five seconds. They seemed like they were about to approach her table, so he decided to do something that he never thought he would do.

Yoongi sat down in the chair in front of her, and the man immediately backed off. Jieun didn't notice him at first. She was so absorbed with what was in her hands that she didn't see what was in front of her.

Yoongi was amused that she didn't seem to notice his presence, so he took his time to observe her. She looked very pale. Even with her big glasses he could still see her dark circles. She seemed so worn out. Not to mention, her eyes were red, probably due to crying, and from what he could see, she had almost finished her second bottle of soju.

"Tired?" he finally spoke, breaking the silence.

She jolted in her seat, genuinely surprised at the voice that brought her out of her thoughts. Jieun looked up and she recognized him in an instant, since he had already taken off his mask earlier.

Did she know him? Of course, she did, who didn't know BTS? After winning two Billboard Awards, they were like the biggest group in Korea or maybe even in the world right now.

They had met a few times at music shows and awards events, but they just briefly greeted each other in a sunbae-hoobae way. She never knew him or other BTS members personally despite the rumours that their maknae was a big fan of her.

She didn't know how to address him, so she put on the mask she always wore as IU, even though her current state of appearance betrayed her. 

"Hi... You're Suga of BTS, right?" IU took off her glasses. She was bright, even at midnight, after all she was IU.

Yoongi smiled softly and nodded his head. "You still didn't answer my question sunbaenim..." A long pregnant silence settled between them "You're tired, aren't you?" It was a blunt thing to say to a stranger, especially considering her status as his senior. But it was in his nature, Min Yoongi didn't have a filter, unlike Suga.

There was something about his voice and the way he tenderly looked at her that made cracked the mask she wore in public. She felt like he was staring into her soul, and she knew that he understood. So, she nodded.

"Yes," her voice trembled, unlike the bright and cheerful tone she had used earlier.

It was then that she let her walls down. Maybe it was the way he asked her, or it could be the way he could see right through her and saw not IU, but the Jieun who had been holding in everything since the beginning.


	2. Seeping Pain

A few cans of beer were running in and numbing their system. A serene silence had enveloped them, one that had taken over the sounds of the city around them. Or maybe it was their slow heartbeats that were threatening to be heard.

Jieun never thought that she would ask someone to accompany her or that someone would even accept her silly request. Especially when that someone was a guy she had just met, but in retrospect they had the same things running in their minds. Somewhere or the other, they were kindred spirits looking for someone to understand their sorrows, to see the person behind the masks they wore every day.

Her voice failed her the moment he asked about it. For a moment she wanted to construct another convincing lie and step back into the image of IU, like how she usually did. It's almost like an auto pilot for her by now. 

But there was something beguiling about the way he stared at her, the way his blunt words pierced through her heart. It was like he stripped her from the mask that she had always held onto so tightly, it was almost as if he could see right through the walls she had built around her.

Or maybe, she was just tired with all of the pretending and wanted to lay her cards on the table and come clean for once. 

Yoongi sensed her anxiety, he knew that he should probably stop caring. It was so unlike him to meddle on someone else business. But his body didn’t let him step away, and there he sat, waiting for her to speak. Just like him, she had been staring at the bridge in the distance for a long time.

"Have you ever thought of quitting?" she asked after asking him how old he was when he had entered the industry.

Hearing the question, Yoongi released a deep sigh, "I can't count how many times I have thought of it."

Jieun hardened her gaze, her eyes not straying from the blazing city light. "Then, why are you staying?"

"This is the life that I've chosen, I could have been a good civil servant, an engineer, or even a businessman. I could have a stable job like what my parents wanted, but writing lyrics and making music has always been my passion even when my parents strongly opposed my decision back then." She was still stay silent, so he continued, "if I am ever given a chance to go back in time and have the choice to change my fate, I would still choose music. This is not only my passion or just a job for me. It has become an outlet as well."

Jieun smiled softly because she felt the same. Even after she got rejected and failed so many times in the beginning, she still never gave up, and that was what made her who she is now. But just like others, she did think about quitting and wanted to just give up sometimes, especially when things were hard for her.

"You really work hard, don't you? To get to where you are now," she knew for a fact that BTS was like an underdog in the industry when they first debut, pretty much just like her. 

He chuckled at the bitter memories that suddenly resurfaced in his mind, the memory of him and his members clutching desperately onto their debut. Hoping and praying everyday that the next day would be better before they fell asleep. 

"I've sacrificed a lot when I choosed this path. But I'm not really complaining. It has fed me for these past few years, as you know, I didn't come from a wealthy family. Heck, we didn't even have proper ventilation back then. I remember how I had to choose using the money for food or to use it for a bus ride, I was starved most of the time, and I thought once I debut everything would change. But it didn’t, I had to go through a long and harrowing journey before I got here. It finally work in the end, though."

He didn't know why he told her all of those things. He wasn't the type who can easily open up to someone, let alone to someone that basically a stranger for him. But at that time, he felt like his mouth has a mind on it's own, so he just blurted out everything. It could be due to circumstances or the alcohol, he wasn't sure. 

His words made Jieun nod her head. She didn’t pity him because she experienced the same things, her struggles were slightly different, but the premise was the same. She grabbed another can of beer and chugged it down.

"How about you?" Yoongi asked, his voice was laced with seriousness.

"Me?" Jieun pondered on his question for a while. Since he already told her his story, it's only fair to share hers as well. She took a deep breath before speaking. 

"I used to think about it all the time. Unlike you, you have your members to lean on and be with you through the hardships. Being a solo artist with great expectations on my shoulders, it became really hard at some point. We have similar reasons as to why we chose this path. More than myself, I actually did it for my grandma. She wanted me to pursue my dream even when we lived in poverty. We used to live in a small one room house overrun by cockroaches. We had been scammed by fake agencies a few times and it burned all of her savings. I found out that this dream of mine may have been impossible, especially after failing so many auditions. But seeing how my loved ones worked hard to support my dream, it had never been so tough. But then, everything started to suffocate me. At such young age, I never thought that words could hurt someone so much. I was trying to please everyone, taking all their criticism and even the scandals that I didn't even know about. I suffered from bulimia and starved myself after they criticized my body, I almost went through surgery because of the hate. I became a robot that only functioned for their needs and became what they wanted. It is hard to maintain an image that isn't me. It is fun being the IU that people look up to. But I want to be Jieun sometimes, and no one seems to understand that."

Yoongi listened to each of her words carefully, and when her voice choked up at the end, he pulled a tissue to give her.

"Sorry it's all I have to give you."

It made her laugh softly while dabbing at the tears that were building up in her eyes. Yoongi too copied her soft laugh.

He hadn't expected to know how tiring it was for her. He had always thought of her as a great senior and singer. They were the same age, but she was five years his senior. She had always been in the spotlight as long as he could remember, maybe because he only came to know about her when she started gaining popularity. He never knew her background story, and never even bothered to check. Why would he, when he already has a lot of things on his plate himself?

So it was quite surprising to hear that they shared many similarities. He just realized how hard it must be for her, so small and so young, ostracized by the knetz and have to endure it all alone. At least, he had his members with him. 

He thought about how it was one of the reasons that a lot of idols chose to run away from all the fame because the blinding lights were something that not everyone could handle.

"Have you ever thought of it?" Yoongi asked bluntly, staring at the bridge again.

"What?"

He slowly looked back at her, "death."

She was taken aback because of his words. It was like a string pulled on her, because that was exactly what she had been thinking.

"A lot of time."

Yoongi knew how she lost three of her friends, he was there at their funerals. He saw her lifeless eyes as she stared at their portraits in the funeral hall. But just like her, he had lost a friend too.

"I was busy with my life, too caught up with everyone. I didn't even ask how they were. I-I didn't even tell them that I'm always here for them, but who am I kidding? I can't even find time to call them," she feigned a smile, but it was too bitter and painful to even be considered a smile..

"That night when Sulli took her life, I was sleeping because I was so exhausted after my schedule. I WAS SLEEPING AND DIDN'T EVEN THINK TO CALL TO CHECK UP ON HER. If only I could just reach out to them in time–i-it wouldn't have happen," she wiped her tears away, but they just kept on falling.

"You know you can't save anyone right? We can't save someone from their own demons, especially when we are still struggling with ours. You can't change anyone’s decision especially when they have already made up their mind."

Jieun gasped, how could he say that, without even trembling or thinking about how triggering his words were.

"H-how could you say that?"

"Because I've experienced it myself. I saw how my friend took his own life. Fuck, I even told him that it's his choice. I-I didn't know about it, I thought he was just joking, and I was too busy to care, I was busy with my own life. I-I was too busy to entertain him for a while"

Tears blurred his vision as he spats those words as if they were the poison that he had kept around for a long time.

"I kept blaming myself the whole time, and it affected my work, my group, and even my life. Just like you, I found myself struggling to sleep, I was pretending that I was fine, so the members wouldn't be worried. But heck, I was not. It will never be okay."

It was the first time she saw a man she didn't know open his heart to her. It took her anxiety away and eased her tension a little for some strange reason that she didn't quite understand.

"I-I was in great pain, but they told me to smile. As if nothing affected me, but every time I found myself alone I couldn't help but think, I wallowed in my sorrows and let my demons consume me….it was frustrating how I couldn't breathe even when I had the room all to myself and it was not even cramped. I was close to my breaking point, but I never got a chance to, I was grieving but I needed to make everyone else happy. It's like I want to cry but having to laugh, and it's sicken me."

The cold air hadn’t bothered them, but they could slowly feel it creeping into their skin as they looked at the lake, watching how the lake seemed shallow but in retrospect it was deeper, and they would never know what's down there.

"It was not your fault... It wasn't theirs either, it's because we're just fucked up human beings, that's all. So please, let yourself grieve." Yoongi held a bottle of Soju in his right hand.

He reached out his free hand to hold hers, and waited for her to walk with him. Gladly, she accepted it and when they got to the lake, he opened the bottle before handing it to her, telling her to pour it out for them.

With teary eyes and a blotchy nose she poured it thrice and forced out a smile "...I hope you're all happy now."

Yoongi smiled softly as he looked at Jieun and not the IU that he usually saw on stage.

"It is that everyone dies alone." Yoongi murmured but she could hear it perfectly.

"Does that scare you?"

Yoongi looked into her eyes, and she saw how a child hid behind those shiny eyes. "Death? No… I am more scared of being alone..." He sighed. "You don't need to force it sunbae, remember your speech last year? Cry when you want to cry. You're just a human being too. So, please let yourself breathe for once."

His gummy smile brought her comfort, but it was also painful because right now, she was not only seeing Yoongi or Suga but also Sulli, Jonghyun and Hara smiling at her in her memory.

The dam of tears finally broke, the lump in her throat that was choking her gave up, allowing her sobs to take over. She had never cried in front of a stranger, but he was an exception. Jieun cried her heart out that night and Yoongi didn't hesitate to comfort her.

He wrapped his hands around her as if keeping her from shattering into pieces. "It's okay. We will be okay Jieun-ssi."

It was that night, that two lost souls found someone to lean on. The ice that had frozen in their hearts finally found the warmth they were looking for. It was as if two missing puzzle pieces had found each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this story. Happy reading!! ^^


	3. Companion

That night, Jieun dressed up in an oversized white t-shirt that she had borrowed from Yoongi. The shirt was so big on her that it fell to her thighs and covered her almost invisible black shorts. Unsurprisingly, he was bigger than her even though he wasn’t that tall himself. It was just the fact that Jieun was very petite, she was much smaller in real life than how she appeared on TV.

For some strange reason that Yoongi couldn’t understand, Jieun really liked wearing his clothes. At first, it was just a one-time thing when Yoongi lent her his jacket as she was shivering due to the chill in the air. But then it became a strange habit of hers. In the end, he left some of his clothes at Jieun's place for her to wear.

She never told him, but it was because his clothes smelled like him, like calm and peace and a sense of recklessness. She liked that feeling, that's why she liked to wear his clothes.

Jieun recalled Yoongi's words. "If your managers find that you own a random guy's shirt, they're going to think weirdly of you."

But she just shrugged her shoulders, not caring one bit. He wasn't just a random guy for her anyways. Ever since that night, he had became her safe haven.

Yoongi didn't like to admit it, but he would often wear the clothes that she borrowed just because he loved the subtle scene of her perfume that lingered on them. His members did question about it a few times because the scent didn't smell like the colognes that he usually preferred, and it was too feminine to be his. But he always brushed it off with his nonchalant attitude.

Jieun was making herself a cup of tea while was listening to 'Shadow', Yoongi's new single for BTS's album. She really liked that song, Yoongi had a nice singing voice even though he didn't show it often. Besides, she could really relate with the lyrics.

As Jieun hummed along, she shrieked in surprise when her door jolted open, but was relieved when she saw that it was just Yoongi. Yes, they knew each other passcodes by now. Or rather, Yoongi knew hers since he still lived with his members despite them having more than enough money to buy their own place. So it wouldn't be a good idea for her to suddenly show up at their dorm.

It had been two and half months since their first meeting and their friendship had grown since then. They went from just mere sunbae-hoobae to each other's close companions. They found shelter in each other; an ear to listen to, a shoulder to cry on, and a reason to laugh when they needed it.

It wasn't every day that Jieun could easily trust someone whom she had only known for a few months. But she just did, Yoongi just had that effect on her. She just knew that she could trust him and she was grateful for his companion nonthless. 

For Yoongi's case, he was surprised that they got along so well and how easy it was to talk with her, considering that he was an introvert and didn't socialize much in general. He assumed it could be because he was there at her breaking point or maybe it was the fact that he saw himself in her. He just couldn't ignore her.

It still felt strange sometimes though, because he was suddenly friends with Jieun, the girl that Jungkook didn't even have the courage to talk to even though he looked up to her. But it wasn't a bad kind of strange.

If he was being honest, he actually liked the little changes that Jieun brought into his life. He was smiling more often than usual and he was feeling happier. 

He never told his members about his friendship with Jieun, not that he wanted to hide it. But he just didn't find the need to tell them, besides it would be complicated to explain his first meeting with her, which included their heart to heart conversation, and he felt like it wasn't only his story to tell. Fortunately they always assumed that he was visiting one of his old friends when he told them that he was going out.

"Ahh, you're here," she smiled at him and made her way to the living room with a cup of tea in her hands.

Yoongi put the plastic bag that he was holding on the coffee table. "I brought you the liver and omasum that you asked."

Her face lit up. "Great.. Thanks Yoongi-ah."

Yoongi scrunched his nose as he regarded her. "I still don't get why you like this kind of food."

In contrast to her youthful appearance, she had an 'old' taste for food. It was quite shocking for Yoongi when he first found out.

"Didn't I tell you that my grandma raised me since I was young? As a result, I acquired her taste of food. Besides, what's wrong with this? It's good," she answered nonchalantly, turning on the television and switched it to a music channel.

"Yeah, no wonder then."

Yoongi helped her to set up the food that he bought and handed her the chopsticks. Contrary to his cold exterior, he liked to take care of people. He just didn't like people knowing that.

Jieun picked up the chopsticks and dug in. "Hmm.. This is good," she savored the taste.

Yoongi rested his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his palm as he watched her eat. The sight was more interesting for him than the show on the television.

Jieun had a cute eating habit, instead of swallowing her food right away, she liked to puff up her cheeks and took a few seconds to let the taste of food sit inside her mouth. Yoongi thought it was adorable because she looked like a chipmunk when she did that.

"Stop with the staring," Jieun shoved a piece of omasum into his mouth with her chopsticks.

Yoongi chuckled as he munched on the food. Fortunately, he wasn’t a picky eater, so he could eat almost anything. "You should really consider making a mukbang video. I'm sure your fans will like it."

"You’re the only one who would come up with such a suggestion," Jieun rolled her eyes. "You're weird." She continued to eat, not minding his staring any longer. But suddenly her expression changed, and she scrunched her face in pain.

"What's wrong?" Yoongi asked, worried.

"I bit my tongue," she answered, sticking out her tongue to show him.

Yoongi burst out laughing in an instant as he found her expression to be funny.

"Yah!!" She hit his arm in annoyance.

"You're kinda...wait, are you crying?" he said in between bouts of laughter.

"It hurts so much," she laughed a little as she teared up.

Yoongi shook his head at her cuteness, then unconsciously pulled her into his chest and patted her head. "Aigoo.. Our Jieun-ie."

Instead of pushing him, she snuggled more into his chest. She could hear his heartbeat, and it brought her a sense of calm. "Yoongi-ah."

"Hmm?" he was stroking her long silky hair.

"Do you think it's weird?"

"What?"

"Us."

He pulled back and furrowed his brow. "Why do you think like that?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. We were basically strangers a few months ago."

"Let me ask you then, do you feel comfortable with me?"

"Yes."

"Do you consider me as your friend?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

"Then you have your answer."

"But you're Suga of BTS and I'm IU. We're not even supposed to breath in the same room. Your fans won't like it."

Yoongi flicked her forehead.

"Ouchh.." She rubbed her forehead and pouted. "What was that for?"

"We have had this conversation before. Wasn't it you who said that when it's just the two of us, we're only Jieun and Yoongi, not IU and Suga?"

"Old habits die hard," she sighed. "It’s just that yesterday I read some hate comments from your fans."

"My fans?" he raised his brow.

"Yeah, BTS's fans actually. They cursed at me because apparently I'm Jungkook-ssi's ideal type. Well, it was a long time ago that he said that. I don't know why they're still using that to jump at me."

"I told you not to read those comments. Besides, people like that aren't a real fans, so don't bother with them."

"I know. I just can't help it sometimes." She leaned her head to rest on his shoulder.

"You should stop torturing yourself like that, it's not healthy," he sighed. "Do you want me to scold Jungkook for you?"

"No, it's fine. Actually I feel honoured that he chose me as his ideal type. You know, I love my fans a lot, and I think that he's very sweet. So it isn't his fault, really, it’s the toxic fans who are at fault."

"He stopped mentioning you when he realized how much hate you got because of him."

Jieun smiled faintly, "That’s really sweet of him. He seems like a really nice guy."

"He's a nice guy."

"Should I go greet him in the future?"

"He'll probably die from a heart attack."

Jieun giggled at his answer. It fascinated her that she could affect someone so much. But it also scared her sometimes. It would always be a two edged sword for her.

"I just wish that the fans would be more open minded and wouldn't think that idol having a friendship with opposite gender is wrong," Jieun sighed.

"It's only wrong if you let yourself or others think it is. We didn't do anything wrong, we're just hanging out like normal people. What's so wrong about that?"

"I think you're right."

She smiled causing him to smile back in return. Deep down, there was still some part of her that thought that it was wrong. They had their fans and a lot of expectations on their shoulders. They couldn't let them down. But how could something wrong feel so right?

"You're thinking too much again."

Jieun was surprised that he noticed even the slightest change in her expression. For someone who only knew her personally for a little more than a couple of months, he was surely good at understanding her. Too good.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Maybe he was right. She was thinking too much about it and should just enjoy it while it lasts. Besides, real fans wouldn't get angry over something like that. She was sure that there were mature fans out there who were not toxic. She should keep a positive mindset, after all she was no stranger to what negative thoughts did to her friends.

The room was enveloped in silence for a few minutes before Jieun spoke again. "I hope the pandemic will end soon."

"I hope so. It's sad that everyone is suffering because of it."

Though 2019 was the worst year for the kpop industry, 2020 was a cursed year for the entire world.

It was the year when a pandemic took over the whole world. Many people died, the world’s economy fell into the deepest pits of hell, it was really World War 3 in every sense, where the whole world was fighting with a virus.

Due to the pandemic, BTS’s tour was postponed. IU's concert also had the same fate.

"The only good thing about this whole pandemic thing is that I can finally get a proper rest for the first time in twelve years," she turned to him, looking at him with her big doe eyes. "Do you think I'm selfish for thinking like that?"

Yoongi's heart clenched at her words. How tiring it must have been for her, to be working nonstop for twelve years? He only worked for seven years and it was already very tiring for him. He was amazed that her small body that seemed very fragile could handle it.

"No," he shook his head. "It's not like you wished for this to happen. Actually, I also feel the same way, I would be lying if I say that I don't enjoy the little break from my job."

She nodded in understanding.

They didn't talk much after that, both falling into comfortable silence, only the sounds from the television could be heard. The food on the table was long forgotten, since Jieun didn't feel like eating anymore.

It was past midnight when Jieun finally fell asleep while leaning on Yoongi's shoulder. Yoongi knew that he should have left by now. But he was afraid the he would wake her up if he moved.

She looked like a child when she was sleeping, and he didn't have the heart to wake her up. So in the end he decided to just lean his head on top of hers and close his own eyes. He could enjoy this peaceful moment a little bit longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Suga and IU isn't a popular pairing, but I can't help but fall in love with this cute pairing. I hope you guys will like this story.


	4. Suspicion

Jieun hadn’t slept this well in a while. She didn’t wake up from a nightmare even once, and she didn't even took a sleeping pill or her antidepressants medication the night before. It was an improvement and she was glad about that. 

Amidst the sleep induced haze, she wondered what woke her up from her restful sleep. She pried her eyes open, noticing that the sun was filtering through the sheer drapes that covered the french window that led to her balcony. It is then that the soft sounds of snores gained her attention, along with the feeling of someone lying beneath her.

Jieun startled, her eyes widened when she realized that Yoongi was lying beneath her, sound asleep. She wondered how they had ended up in this position and remembered how she had fallen asleep on his shoulder last night. She watched his relaxed face, noticing how his hair was mussed up from sleep. His cheek was squished adorably against one of the cushions resting against the couch. His presence brought comfort to Jieun, a sense of peace that enveloped her whole being and dripped down her fingertips.

The moment was shattered when a rhythmic vibration came from the table. She sneaked out of his hold, stifling a giggle when Yoongi’s face scrunched up, but he turned, arms coming to clutch another cushion to his chest. It was her phone that was buzzing, she peeked at the screen only to see her manager’s name light it up. The phone icon was tilting from left to right in the center, as if waiting for her to pick up the phone.

Jieun glanced at BTS’s rapper, who was still soundly asleep. She reached out to pick up the phone, but the buzzing stopped and then started again. She held the phone in her hand and tiptoed to her bedroom to answer it.

“Hello?"' she mumbled into the receiver.

“IU,” her manager sounded relieved, as if he was worried about her not picking up the phone. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes oppa,” she said, peeking from the open door of her bedroom into the living room, leaning a bit so she could catch a glimpse of Yoongi who hadn’t moved an inch. “Why, is anything wrong?”

“No, I was just worried that you didn’t pick up my calls. I had been calling all morning and even left a few texts,” his reply was rushed, almost breathless.

She pulled away the phone from her ear, tapping the screen and sure enough, there were ten missed calls and fifteen messages from him. She got a good idea of why he sounded so worried. 

“I’m sorry, I was sleeping and my phone was on silent. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?” She sighed and leaned against the wall, looking out of a window, down at the street, watching the people briskly walk by, probably on the way to their jobs. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to be a normal person with a normal job, but then realized that she liked being who she was, even if it got tough at times.

“Well, there is something that the company has been planning to do for a while now, and I think it’s the best time to do it,” he said quietly.

“What is it about? I thought we'd go on hiatus for a while.” Jieun’s heart was beating, nervous about what it was that they had been planning for a while. A drama? An album? A movie? Something else?

"I know, and I'm sorry for disturbing your rest time. But the CEO has been pestering me for a while now and I think you'll also like this project." Jieun could hear his excitement from the other side of the phone. "It would be better if you could come to the company so we can talk face to face about it.”

“It's alright, I will be there in an hour or so. It's not like I have something better to do anyway.” After finishing the call, she headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. 

After that she went into the kitchen, heading straight to the coffee pot, filled the decanter with water, poured it in, spooned in the grounds, got out a cup and clicked the ‘start’ button. She doesn't drink coffee, but Yoongi does. In fact, he was the reason why she bought a brand new coffee maker for her kitchen. Jieun made a cup of coffee for him and a tea for herself. 

Having heard the noise, Yoongi stirred, squinting one eye open to see that Jieun was bustling around in the kitchen, ready to go somewhere.

“Are you going somewhere?” He questioned, his voice still husky and low from sleep.

Jieun hummed, “My manager wants to see me for something. I wonder what it is, he seemed quite excited about the prospect.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Jieun smiled at his sleepy demeanor, whipping up a quick breakfast for the both of them before they had to leave to their respective schedules.

"I'm sorry, this is the only thing that I can manage to make in just a short amount of time." Jieun said in between munching her blueberry jam toast. 

"It's okay, I don't usually eat breakfast anyway, and we both know that you're not the best cook. Remember the last time you tried to make curry? You almost set your kitchen on fire." He said in a teasing manner. 

Jieun rolled her eyes and kicked his foot lightly from under the table which resulted in a groan from him. 

"Yah, it was just that one time and it was because I forgot to turn off the stove. I'm usually not that bad, you know."

"Sure.." Yoongi answered, obviously unconvinced. 

"Yah, are you doubting me?" She huffed. 

He chuckled at her expression. After getting to know her for a while now, he noticed that she could be very childish sometimes. But it wasn't annoying at all, instead he found it rather cute. 

"Don't be so full of yourself just because you're a better cook than me!" 

Yoongi raised his brow at her statement. "How did you know that I'm a better cook?" he asked, because he didn't remember ever cooking for her. 

"Well, I watched Bon Voyage." She shrugged her tiny shoulders. 

"Woah, I didn't know you were monitoring me. Should I feel honoured or scared?" He smirked teasingly at her.

"It was because I have a lot of free time lately, and it was fun to watch." She glared at him, but it was more cute than scary. 

"Arasso, arasso." He decided to stop teasing her even though he was having fun doing it. 

"Now that we are talking about your cooking, how come you have never cooked for me?"

Yoongi took a sip of his coffe before answering, "do you want me to cook for you?"

Jieun nodded eagerly. 

"Fine, I'll cook for you the next time we meet." Yoongi agreed. Strangely he found it hard to say no to Jieun. But he didn't mind cooking anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. 

A smile creeped on her face. It was just a simple thing, but thinking about their next rendezvous already made her day. Jieun never understood why she felt so happy everytime she met up with Yoongi. It was probably because she felt the most comfortable around him.

They continued to eat in a comfortable silence after that. Soon, they finished eating and were ready to go. 

"Do you need a ride?" Yoongi asked. He knew Jieun still didn't have a driving license despite being 27 years old. She kept saying that it was because she was too busy to take the test, but she was determined to get it this year. 

Jieun was in the middle of putting her shoes on. "Nah, how if someone see us together? Besides, I already ordered a taxi."

Yoongi did think about the possibility and if he was being selfish, the rebellious side in him still thought that there was nothing wrong with that. But he knew that she would be the one who would be hurt the most if a scandal broke out between them, and he knew very well how vicious haters could get. He wouldn't mind if it was only him, but he also had Jieun and his members to worry about.

"You're right," he sighed in defeat. 

Jieun finished with her shoes, so she turned to him and gave him a faint smile. It was sad that they couldn't do something as simple as being seen together, but it was their reality. 

"Come on, it's time to go." Jieun instructed Yoongi to follow her which he complied to immediately. 

__

When Yoongi arrived at the dorms, he immediately headed to his room, much to the surprise of Taehyung who watched him cautiously. He didn't realize he had been staring at the hallway where Yoongi's back had disappeared for a few minutes.

“What’s with that pouty face?” Hoseok asked Taehyung and slung his arm around the younger’s shoulder. The question caused the other members to glance at the two, wondering what was wrong.

“I’m not pouting. I’m thinking. There’s a difference, hyung.” Sensing Taehyung’s conflicted emotions, Namjoon settled next to him, raising his eyebrow in question.

“What are you thinking about, Tae?” He asked in a calm, collected voice that still sounded concerned.

“It would sound stupid if I say it out loud…” he trailed off, sounding hesitant.

Jimin cocked his head to the side, frowning at his friend’s words. “Lots of things do, but that’s no reason to keep things to yourself. Come on, tell us.”

Seeing Jin and Jungkook’s nods of affirmation, he took a deep breath. “I wonder where Yoongi hyung goes. At first I thought that he probably went out to see his friends or something, but is that really it? Are we sure it’s not...”

Jin sighed, “I don’t know Taehyung, I do suspect that he’s dating. But even if it is a girl that he meets, it’s not really a bad thing. Our contracts now allow us to date and whether you agree to it or not, he is someone who could do with a girlfriend.”

“But,” Jimin interjected. “He would tell us if that was the case… I mean it has been months now, right?”

“He would, and if he doesn’t want to right now, it’s his decision as well,” Namjoon breathed through his teeth and shrugged.

“I just hope he and the girl will be ready for the backlash that may happen if this gets out,” Jungkook mumbled sadly, worried about his hyung. He experienced it first hand what happened when the scandal of him dating someone broke out. It was a total chaos for both him and the poor girl who got tangled up in that misunderstanding. It was not like they were even dating for real, but the netizens surely knew how to twist things up. 

"Who do you think the girl could be?" Hoseok asked his members. 

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Judging from hyung's personality, it could possibly be a non celebrity," Jimin tapped his fingers on the table while thinking. "but it doesn't rule out the possibility that he could be dating a celebrity."

"Do you think it's Suran noona?" Jungkook made a guess. 

"They're close, and it was obvious that she has a thing for Yoongi hyung. So it could be a possibility." Taehyung answered. 

"I honestly think that they look good together." Jimin commented, which Taehyung replied to with a nod of approval. 

"Woah, I envy Yoongi hyung. I wish I could date too," Jungkook stated. 

"Who's stopping you?" Jin raised his brow. "I heard that Lisa from Blackpink tried to make a move on you."

"You know that she's not my type, hyung." 

"And who's your type then? Don't tell me it's still-" Jin's sentence was cut short by Jungkook's answer. 

"-it's IU sunbaenim, of course."

"Really? Even after all these years?" Jimin widened his eyes, not believing how loyal the maknae was. He was surely a boyfriend material. If Jimin would have been a girl, he would be happy to date someone as loyal as Jungkook. 

"Always," Jungkook answered in a deeper voice, impersonating his favorite scene from Harry Potter. 

Taehyung threw a pillow at him, "and yet you never even had a proper conversation with her. I thought after almost a 7 years you would finally muster up the courage."

Jungkook sighed, "you know I tend to get very nervous around her, hyung."

Taehyung and Jin kept on teasing the maknae. But Hoseok had something else in mind, so he turned to Namjoon. 

"I'm still curious about Yoongi hyung though, and why he hasn't told us anything yet."

"I think we should stop making a baseless assumptions. I'm sure that Yoongi hyung will tell us when he's ready," Namjoon replied wisely. As a leader he had the responsibility to keep a cool head in the group. 

His words caught they attention of all of them. They looked at Namjoon, and an understanding look was exchanged among each member and they nodded, agreeing to the leader's words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!! ^^


	5. Collaboration

Jieun walked to the meeting room with hesitant steps, her nerves were on edge due to the call and she couldn’t help but want to go back to the safety of her apartment. To be honest, she just wasn't ready yet, she was still in a slump. 

But who the hell she kidding? She's IU, it's her job, so she had to do this. With a deep breath, she opened the door to the meeting room, only to see that her long time manager, Hanteo was already there with the CEO.

“IU,” the CEO smiled and gestured for her to sit down when Jieun greeted the two males.

“Hanteo oppa said that there is something you have been planning for me…” She trailed off addressing the elephant in the room, the unspoken question hanging in the air.

Hanteo cleared his throat, “you see, BTS is one of the, if not the top boy-group in South Korea or even the world right now. On the other hand, you are the country’s most beloved soloist,” her manager spoke up, it was as if he was stalling, waiting for a reaction from her.

Jieun kept her expression neutral, as she looked between the CEO and Hanteo. “And…?” Jieun grabbed the water bottle in front of her and took a sip to eased her nervousness a little. 

“And we want you to collaborate with one of the members of BTS, Suga,” the CEO replied excitedly.

Jieun almost spitted out the water and now she was coughing madly. That wasn't what she expected at all. 

"Yah, are you okay?" her manager immediately stood up and patted her back to help her. 

"I'm okay, sorry," she managed to say after coughing of her water. 

He went back to his seat. "So, what do you think?” Jieun could see that her manager was silently pleading with his eyes for her to say yes for the collab.

She sighed, weighing her options. A collaboration with Suga didn’t sound too bad if she was being honest; it was better than what she had been expecting. She was comfortable with him and it wouldn’t tax her too much to work with him, and who knew, she might even have fun. This collaboration could also give them a reason, just in case if people see them hanging out in the future. It's a win win situation actually. 

In the end she had agreed, much to the pleasure of the males who were seated in front of her.

Jieun sighed as she exited the company building and ducked into the taxi she had called. The meeting she had with her managers had managed to quell her fears somewhat, but she was still worried; after all, he could refuse to go with what her company wanted.

She sighed, sinking into the seats of the car before fishing out her phone and quickly scrolling through her contacts to find the contact of the person she thought should hear the news before her manager called his, or worse, Yoongi himself.

While wondering whether to tap the green icon or not, her thoughts went back to the meeting she had. She decided to throw caution into the air and pressed the call button, bringing the phone to her ears and waited. It only took him three rings to answer.

“Hello,” she heard him mumble softly, and then the sound of a door clicking shut softly. “Jieun, what’s wrong?” His voice was laced with concern, and it was slightly husky as if he had been sleeping before she called.

“Nothing’s wrong actually,” she answered. 

“How was the meeting?” Yoongi questioned.

“Turned out, they wanted to talk to me about a collaboration."

"Okay, seems like a good news to me. And who's the person that's gonna have the honour of IU's collab?" he asked in a teasing tone.

Jieun chukled a little at his response. "Well, apparently the honour is going to be yours."

There was a pregnant pause before he spoke again.

"Me? Your company wanted you to collaborate with me?"

"Yes," Jieun confirmed. 

“And what did you say?” He cleared his throat.

She felt like her mind was playing tricks on her, because there was no way she heard slight hope in his voice. “You might get a call from your manager later.”

He hummed. His voice was back to being the same nonchalant one and she decided that her mind had been playing tricks before.

“How about I see you tomorrow? We could talk about the collab and I could also cook for you.”

“That sounds good,” unconsciously, Jieun smiled. It was clear from his response that he already agree with the collaboration. Her mood instantly brighten just by thinking of it. 

“Alright then, I’ll drop by tomorrow.”

\--

Jieun was lounging on the couch, her hair thrown in a messy bun and she was wearing a comfortable yellow button up pyjama set as she jotted down something onto the notepad. Her laptop was open in front of her and she was listening to a few beats she had made. She had decided it would be best to have some ideas rolling, even if she and Yoongi decided they wanted something else for the collab, she could use these ideas in her next album.

The opening of the door caused her to look up, only to see Yoongi taking off his shoes. He was holding a few bags in his hands and he pulled down his mask as he approached her.

“Oh, you’re already working?”

Jieun hummed, “I thought it would be nice to have something to work on. We don’t have to use any of my ideas, I just wanted to feel productive I guess. Anyways, what’s in those bags?”

”Ingredients.”

“What are we having?” she questioned, reaching for the bags but he was quicker and held them away from her reach.

“It’s a surprise,” he clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“But…”

“Nope,” Yoongi wagged his index finger. “You’re staying here until I’m done with the food.”

“You don’t want my help?” Jieun pouted, looking at the rapper with wide eyes. She chuckled when he gave her a deadpan look and nodded, “Alright Mr. I’m-an-amazing-cook, let’s see what magic you do in the kitchen.”

Yoongi grinned, showing off his trademark gummy smile before made his way to the kitchen. 

Jieun couldn't help but smile at his disappearing back. It was always nice to have Yoongi around, and now she would even get to collaborate with him. 

She would be lying if she said that she never thought of it. Yoongi was a genius producer after all, and Jieun really loves and admires his work, so it would be great to have a piece of his golden touch. 

Jieun was trying to write a few chords while waiting for Yoongi. But her mind was distracted, she couldn't help but being curious of Yoongi's skill in the kitchen. Sure, she already saw him cooking when she binge watched Bon Voyage. But she wanted to see it herself. 

In the end, she decided to ditch her work for a while and tiptoed to the kitchen. She pressed herself to the wall and peeked in, made sure to be as quite as possible so he wouldn't notice her. 

She watched as Yoongi working skillfully in the kitchen, he was currently cutting some green onions. She noticed there's something simmering in the pot, and something being grilled in the pan. A delicious aroma filled the air. 

Jieun found herself unable to stop a ridiculous grin from growing. If a few months ago someone told her that Min Yoongi would someday cook for her in her kitchen she would probably thought that the person was mental. But she realized now, that you really couldn't be sure about what's going to happen in the future. 

After a couple of minutes of watching Yoongi cooking, Jieun decided to stop her spying before it's getting creepy and went back to her work. 

Time flew by fast, Jieun was so immersed in her work that she didn't notice that Yoongi already stood beside her. 

Instead of immediately calling her, Yoongi took his time to observe her. He was amused at seeing her serious expression. She looked very different when she was working on her music, and he could really see her passion and love for music from her eyes.

Satisfied with his observation, he finally decided to tap on her shoulder. Jieun almost jolted from her seat, obviously startled by the sudden interruption. 

"Yah, you scared the hell out of me," Jieun put her hand on her chest and glared at Yoongi. 

"I've been standing here for like a couple of minutes already," he chuckled. "come on, the food is ready."

Her annoyance completely disappeared at the mentioned of food, and she obediently followed Yoongi to the dining room.

Yoongi already set up the table for both of them. Jieun took her usual sitting spot, while Yoongi took the one opposite her.

Her eyes immediately scanned the table. The table boasted various delicious meal varying from kimchi jiggae, grilled fish, rolled omelette, and there's also some side dishes like kimchi, gim gui, kongnamul, and jeon. It was so much that the table was almost over crowded. All of the dishes looked really appetizing. 

Jieun lifted her face to look at Yoongi, she was smiling and clapped her hands lightly. 

"Woah Min Yoongi, I'm speechless," she gave him thumbs up. "I acknowledge your skill."

Yoongi smiled at seeing her reaction, he was actually relieved that he didn't fail the cooking. It was amusing though, to see the amazement in her eyes.

When she didn't move yet, Yoongi took it upon himself to grab a plate and piling various kinds of food onto it for her to devour.

"Here, eat up," He put the plate in front of her and encouraged her to start dig in. 

Jieun laughed softly at his mothering, her heart warming in fondness for his obvious caring gesture. She never understood why people called him grumpy Yoongi. He might seemed cold at times, yes, and he could be very blunt sometimes that some people might took it the wrong way, but he was actually very sweet, caring, and softie at heart. But then, judging from his personality, Jieun was sure that he doesn't like people to know that. She thought it was cute though, that he would get embarrass and stuff over something as trivial as that. 

"Jal meokgesseumnida," she exclaimed, grabbing onto her chopsticks to start digging in. 

She took a first bite of the grilled fish and her face immediately lit up. "This is so good," She hummed in appreciation. She took a spoonful of the kimchi jiggae this time, and she lifted her face once more. "Woah, I respect you Min Yoongi."

Yoongi chuckled and started piling up his own plate. He was relieved that the food seemed to suit her taste just fine. Fortunately she wasn't a picky eater either, much like himself.

"Can you eat a lot?" He asked because he probably went a bit overboard with the amount of food. He knew that any of his members could easily eat everything up, but he didn't usually eat much so he doubted that both of them could finish it.

"I can," she answered confidently. 

"Good then, eat as much as you want."

The food was delicious, they both started to munch with delight. Yoongi kept on piling her plate in between eating his own food, noticing how skinny she was, and she could definitely do with an extra pounds. 

By the time she was full, almost all of the food were gone, only a little bit of side dishes left. True to her words, she could really eat a lot. She was a slow eater, but she finished it all. Even Yoongi himself was full and gave up first. It was a really shock to Yoongi that she kept eating right till the end. 

"Thank you for the food," Jieun said after swallowing her last bite and put down her chopsticks. 

"Woah, you aren't kidding when you said you could eat a lot." Yoongi had his elbow on the table, propping up his chin. It amazed him that she managed to eat that much food with the small body of hers. 

"I said I could," she shrugged her tiny shoulders while taking a sip of water. "I was starving, this is my first meal of the day."

"Why?" he furrowed his brows, "Don't tell me you're on diet. You're already skinny enough." 

"For me, it's either I'm totally abstain from food or I would binge on food."

"You should still eat something. I don't think you need to diet anyway," Yoongi scrunched his face in disapproval. 

"I'm fine, really," she reassured. It was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again. "There was a short period of time that I had bulimia. It was really serious, my bulimia then. Nowadays, in order to control my binge eating, I set some rules for myself. I would only enjoy eating all I want for only one meal."

Yoongi felt a sudden worry due to her revelation, he remembered that she did mention about her bulimia before.

"Was it because of the way people looked at you, or some misunderstanding, or perhaps stress?" he asked carefully. 

"You know that sometimes I get very sensitive about even things that are really trivial, right?"

He nodded, he already picked up that trait of her since the beginning of their friendship. She really tends to over thinking things sometimes. 

"When it happen, I would lose faith in myself and even hate myself and really plunge into the deep end," she recalled. "I would feel lethargic all day, and there would only be 2 things I can do. Eating and sleeping."

She told her story in such a nonchalant manner, but Yoongi could still feel the pain behind it, and it triggered him somehow. Because it really reminded him of himself but in a different way. 

"I would be uninterested in everything else and not feel like doing anything and feel distressed," she continued. "So I would keep sleeping, and during the time I'm awake, I would keep eating. I would feel very empty inside...not that my stomach is empty," she did an eating motion with her hands to emphasize her story. "But I had to fill this emptiness inside somehow, so I would keep eating and eating. Just eating and sleeping continuously."

It was sad to hear something like that. For such a superstar like Jieun or Yoongi, they got to perform on big stages with lots of cheered and applaud. But in reality, when they came home, it would be so easy to feel empty inside, very empty. 

"As I kept doing that, I gained weight and it became really bad for my health." She grimaced at the bitter memories. "My health got worse. I ate until I vomited. So I received treatment after that."

"You did?" Yoongi's eyes widened in shock.

"Yes."

"For bulimia?"

"Yes, bulimia. Not anorexia, thankfully."

Yoongi never thought that her bulimia was that serious before, and now that he knew how serious it was he felt some sort of responsibility to help her. He made a mental note to nag her more about the importance of eating properly. 

But at least, he was glad that she was able to open up to him. He knew that it wasn't easy to share something as personal as that to other people. He spoke from his personal experience dealing with depression and anxiety. 

"Have you recovered completely then?"

"Not completely. Usually, if I get stressed, the only thoughts that came to mind is to eat. Nothing else but that," she shrugged her shoulders. "It's gotten a lot better now, though. I distracted myself by talked a lot to myself, and wrote in my diary too, to fill the emptiness inside of me," she paused for a while before continuing. "Spending time with you helps a lot too." 

Yoongi smiled softly at her. If his presence could help to lessen up her pain, even only a little bit, then the value of his existence in her life is enough. Besides, he would be lying if he said he didn't benefit from this friendship too. Even though they haven't known each other for that long, but she had become one of the very few people that he enjoys the company.

His hand unconsciously moved to grab her much smaller hand, and gave it a light squeeze of reassurance. "Just reach out to me when it's getting hard, okay? I might not so good at expressing my feelings, but I can be a good listener." 

Jieun smiled at hearing his promises of loyalty and reassurance that he'll always be there for her and gave his hand a squeeze in return.

"Yes. Thank you, Yoongi-ah," she cleared her throat before speaking again. "I know you probably already have your members, but just so you know, you also have me, okay? I mean, when you have a hard time or stuff."

Yoongi nodded in response, smiling genuinely at her. 

After that, the topic changed into a much lighter one. Yoongi told her that her company was indeed contacted his company yesterday. Bang PD seemed very excited about the offer, so he took no time to tell Yoongi about it, and of course Yoongi immediately said yes without hesitation. He already knew about it beforehand from Jieun anyway, but of course he didn't tell Bang PD that. The company would most likely arrange a formal meeting between them soon.

He also told her that he hadn't tell his members about it, but he was sure that Jungkook would probably freak out after hearing it. He was planning to do it tomorrow. 

They continued to chat for a while, before deciding that it was time to clean up. Yoongi insisted on helping her with the cleaning despite her protest. In the end, they agreed to do it together and it was faster that way anyway. 

After finished with the cleaning, they retreated back to the living room. Both Yoongi and Jieun made themselves comfortable on the couch. 

"So, what did you make earlier?" Yoongi asked. 

"I tried to write a few chords for the pre chorus. But I was actually hoping that you can produce the track and then we can work on the melody and the lyrics together."

"If you don't mind, can I listen to what you had worked on?"

Jieun nodded and immediately fiddled with her laptop and headphones. She passed him the headphones.

She clicked the play button after he put on the headphones. He listened to the melody while lying slightly on the couch. Jieun pretend to be cool about it, like she didn't care, but she was actually aware about every of his single movements and reaction. She wondered if he's going to like it or not. 

Yoongi closed his eyes, wanting to immerse in the melody. He hummed while slightly grooving to the beat. A few minutes passed, before Yoongi finally took off the headphones. 

"It was pretty good, better than I expected even, we could actually use it for the pre chorus after adjusting some part a little," he commented. 

"Really?" Jieun's face lit up at his compliment. It wasn't anything extravagant, but it meant a lot if it came from Min Yoongi.

"Yes," Yoongi nodded. "I'll start working on this track tomorrow."

"Sounds good."

"Now, let's talk about what kind of lyrics do you have in mind so we can adjust the song athmosphere to match the lyrics."

Jieun seemed to contemplate for a while. "I was thinking to make this song as a tribute for Jonghyun, Sulli, and Hara. It could also be a relatable song for someone who lost their love ones," she said quietly, a sad smile plastered on her face. 

Yoongi thought the fact that she wanted to make a song as a tribute for her lost friends was sad and touching at the same time. He also experienced the losing of someone before, so he thought this idea could really work for both of them. 

"Sure, let's make a song for our lost ones," he patted her shoulder comfortingly. 

His words and reassurance warmed her heart. She felt her body relax with his comforting touch. Jieun never told Yoongi about this, but she couldn't describe how happy and grateful she was that she had met him that night. 

Jieun shifted closer to Yoongi, hugged her knees to her chest and leaned her head to rest on his shoulder.

"If I think about it again, we bonded over the feeling of losing someone and now we get to make this song together. It's like a destiny, don't you think?"

Different from Jieun who's a hopeless romantic type of person, Yoongi doesn't usually believe in something like destiny. It was never his thing. But he thought he could agree on this one. 

"Yes, I think so," he murmured. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!! I purple you! ^^


	6. A Surprise

"HYUNG."

Yoongi groaned as he heard someone shouted. A second later, it was followed by the sound of someone barged into his bedroom. He was annoyed, his members should know better than to disturb his sleep, especially on his day off.

"Urrgh, go away," he muttered, pulling the blanket to cover his face. 

It felt like he'd only fallen asleep 10 minutes ago. It was almost 5 a.m when he came back from hanging out at Jieun's place to his dorm. Well, technically it wasn't a dorm but a $7 million worth apartment that he shared with his members, but who cares.

"Hyung, wake up," someone shook his body. He knew it immediately from his voice, it was Jungkook. 

He lay there, still with his eyes closed, contemplating whether to curse at Jungkook from waking him up from his precious sleep or force himself up as his levels of consciousness slowly increased due to the loud noise and Jungkook's constant shooking. Finally he threw back the covers and sat up on the bed, his blue pyjama creased and his hair in a frightful mess.

Yoongi still tried to adjust his vision. When he finally regained some of it, he noticed that it turned out that it wasn't only Jungkook who barged into his room, but also Taehyung. 

He glared at the two maknaes, "mwo?"

"Hyung, is that true that you're going to collaborate with IU sunbaenim?" Jungkook suddenly blurted out. 

The mentioned of Jieun's stage name sobered Yoongi in an instant. The image of his last night rendezvous came to his mind. 

He cleared his throat before speaking, his voice was still raspy from sleeping. 

"Yeah," he spoke. "Where did you heard about that anyway?"

"Sejin hyung told us," Taehyung answered. 

"How could you didn't tell us about something as important as that?" Jungkook huffed. 

Yoongi rolled his eyes at the maknae's childish behavior. But then, he'd probably do the same if one of his members get to collaborate with his favorite artist and didn't tell him about it. 

"They just told me yesterday, and we didn't really see each other yesterday. So I forgot to mention it," Yoongi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. 

Jungkook sat down on the edge of the bed, a frown on his face. 

"So, you're really going to have a collaboration with IU sunbaenim?"

"Uh-huh," Yoongi answered lazily. 

"Did you save a whole nation in your past life, hyung?" Jungkook scoffed. 

Taehyung giggled from beside him, "you literally living his dream, hyung."

"Shut up!" Jungkook smacked Taehyung's back, the later just groaned and rolled his eyes. 

"I've heard that you'll work together with her to produce and even featuring in the song?" Taehyung turned to Yoongi and asked.

"Yes," Yoongi yawned, seemed bored with the conversation. 

"How? I mean....just how?"

"Her company contacted our company first."

"Woah, even IU wanted to collaborate with you, hyung. You're really live up to your reputation as a genius producer."

Yoongi just waved his hand, to dismiss Taehyung's compliment. 

"Are you going to her company, or she'll come to ours?" Taehyung asked again. 

"Our company, from what I've heard."

"Woah, really?" Jungkook's face lit up in an instant. "IU sunbaenim will come to our company?"

"Yeah."

"I can't believe this," he shrieked in excitement. "Hyung, you have to introduce me to her later, okay?"

Yoongi quirked his brow, "just greet her normally when you see her, I'm sure you can do the introduction yourself."

"Hyung..." Jungkook whined, "I'll be too nervous to even look at her face, let alone introduce myself. I don't want to make a fool of myself."

Yoongi stared at him in amusement, "I thought after seven years, you'll finally man up."

"Funny, I said the same thing to him a few days ago," Taehyung smirked at the maknae. 

A traitorous blush crept on Jungkook's cheeks. 

"Honestly it's kinda funny that you were brave enough to mentioned her on television, but became very shy in front of her," Yoongi chuckled. "With the amount of fanboying you did, I'd have guessed that you at least knew her by now."

"It made me feel a bit better though. At least, there's something that you're not good at," Taehyung added. 

"Hyung..." The maknae huffed.

His two hyungs just laughed at his annoyed expression. They surely loves to tease their maknae. 

"Go on, laugh all you want," Jungkook crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

"Sorry, I can't help it. Your expression was just too funny." Taehyung said. 

Jungkook just rolled his eyes at Taehyung and turned to Yoongi, "you'll introduce me to her, right? I mean, when will I get this kind of chance again? You know how much I admire her, hyung." He had a hopeful look on his face. 

Yoongi sighed, he couldn't really say no after seeing his expression, "fine."

"You're the best, hyung," Jungkook instantly beamed in joy. "So, when will she come to our company?" it's clear that he couldn't hide his excitement. 

Yoongi grabbed his phone from the bedside table, his manager sent him the details yesterday night. But he was too busy chatting with Jieun that he didn't pay much attention to the content. He searched his manager name in his contact, clicked at his message, and skimmed through it. 

"Tomorrow, at 1 p.m, in our company."

"Great. I'll be there." Jungkook clapped his hands. 

Yoongi gave a small smile at the maknae. It was amusing to see him getting so excited about meeting Jieun. But Jungkook had been a big fan of her for a long time, even before his debut, so Yoongi kinda understand his excitement.

To be honest, he thought that Jieun will like him too. He's a nice and sweet kid after all. She once mentioned that Jungkook kinda reminded her of her younger brother, and she actually wanted to get to know him since she thought his fanboying was adorable. So it wouldn't hurt to introduce them. Yoongi surely can do Jungkook a favor. 

"By the way, hyung..." Taehyung suddenly called, drawing their attention to him, "where did you stay out last night?"

"I visited a friend," he looked nonchalant, even though he was actually a bit nervous by Taehyung's sudden question.

"Which friend?" Taehyung squinted his eyes. 

"Just an old friend," Yoongi gave a short answer.

Jungkook's eyes darted to Taehyung before settled back on Yoongi. He could tell that his hyung was hiding something.

"Hyung-"

"-now if you're finish with your question, I would appreciate it if you let me go back to my most needed sleep right now." Yoongi cut him off before Taehyung could ask any further. But it was clear from his tone that he left no room to argue.

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something but decided not to do it in the end. He and Jungkook exchanged a look, a silent agreement to let go of the topic for now was made. They both knows that it was useless to pester Yoongi if he doesn't want to tell them. In the end, they excused themselves from Yoongi's room, after wishing him a good sleep. 

Yoongi breathed a heavy sigh at the sound of his bedroom door closing. He rubbed his face with his palm frustratingly. He didn't like to lie to his members, and he felt a little guilty somehow. But he thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal that he's friend with Jieun yet. He didn't know how to explain his sudden friendship with her without mentioning about what happened that night, and he felt like it wasn't his place to share her story.

Rather than lying to them it's better not to say anything. He knew that his members was getting suspicious about his mysterious friend. But he had been succed to avoid the question so far, even though it was a coward thing to do, and Yoongi hate being a coward. But he has to consider Jieun's feelings as well. Luckily Taehyung and Jungkook knew how to take a hints and didn't question him further. 

At least the collaboration will give him good enough reason as to how he became friend with Jieun in the future. If someone ask him later, he could just anwer that they're getting close after working together. 

Yoongi threw himself back on the bed. He glanced at the clock, noted that it was still 8.15 in the morning. He sure could do with more sleep.

He tried to close his eyes, but the image of Jieun's sleeping face suddenly flashed into his mind.

They really talked about a lot of things last night, and he has to admit that it always nice and easy to talk with her. 

It was almost 4 a.m when Jieun started dozing off, he remembered that he suggested her to go to her room and sleep. But she answered that she was too sleepy to move and would just sleep on the couch instead.

Yoongi could only shook his head at her stubbornness, and decided to just scooped her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He chuckled when he remembered her startled face when he suddenly carry her. She was worried that she'd be too heavy for him. In fact, she was very light that he could carry her with ease. Even though it was kinda amusing that she worried for nothing, but it also worried him a little that she has such a poor body image of herself. It certainly has something to do with her eating disorder. 

In the end he put her down on her bed, gingerly covered her with blanket, and tucked her to sleep. He recalled her mumbled, "good night Yoongi" even though it was already morning, while holding his hand. He had wait until he was sure that she'd fallen asleep before leaving. 

The fond memories brought a small smile on his face, and he closed his eyes once again. This time he let himself drifting off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, so I'm back with another chapter.
> 
> I know this chapter is kinda boring, but this story is a slow burn, romance and plot-wise. I want this story to be realistic and believable. I hope you won't get frustrated by it. Hehehe...
> 
> Lastly, thank you for reading my story, and don't forget to leave a feedback! I purple you!! ^^


	7. The Meeting

Jieun woke up at 7 in the morning, much to her disgruntlement. She planned to wake up a little bit late since she only managed to fell asleep at dawn but she couldn't. She blamed the adrenaline for waking her up before her alarm, knowing full well what this day meant for her.

She tried to close her eyes and catch a few more winks, but her body was uncooperative. Knowing it was futile, Jieun hauled herself from the bed and started to get ready for the day. 

She decided to make a glass of warm milk for her breakfast, then spent her extra time by watching TV. 

When it was finally time to go, Jieun took a quick shower before went to her closet. Since the temperature was still cold outside, Jieun donned a white shirt and threw a warm oversize cardigan as an outer. She also wore a light blue boyfriend jeans and paired it with white shocks and white sneakers. She wears her long black hair down and only applied a minimum amount of make up. 

It was a very casual look, but since it was supposed to be an informal formal meeting, it doesn't really matter what she's wearing. Yoongi and her probably would go straight to work and brainstorm an idea for their collaboration anyway, so it was safe to choose something comfortable to wear. 

It was 12.30 p.m when her manager came to pick her up to drive her to Bighit. Jieun grabbed her backpack that contained her notebook, stationary, ipad, and some of her personal stuff like wallet, phone and lipbalm then slinging it to her shoulder before making her way out. 

She was still 15 minutes early when she arrived at the building. It was her first time ever visiting Bighit, and she was quite excited. She knew that it wasn't that long ago that Bighit moved their company to this massive building. Bighit has seen a historical growth ever since BTS became one of the most successful boy groups in the world. It was a big accomplishment and she was pretty amazed. 

When they arrived at the receptionist desk, the young receptionist whose name is Jo Minah from what Jieun read on her nametag seemed quite excited when she saw her. It looked like that she had been told of her arrival and knew why she was there without her having to say it. Jieun convinced her manager that she could go by herself from that point and that she would contact him to pick her up later.

After her manager left, Minah led her to the elevator and pressed the button to the 7th floor. She didn't waste the chance to engage Jieun in a small conversation. The talkative girl admitted to be a big fan of her and that she really loves her songs. The kind and humble Jieun of course responded warmly to the bubbly girl, she always love engaging with her fans anyway.

When the elevator arrived, Minah walked Jieun to a room at the end of the corridor. She stopped in front of the door and knocked it twice before opening it and invited Jieun to enter. Jieun didn't forget to thank the nice girl before she excused herself and left. 

The room that she was in turned out to be some kind of meeting room with big tables on the center of the room and a chairs surroundings it. There's already two occupants in the room, Yoongi and Bang PD. 

Bang PD sat at the head of the table and Yoongi sat to his right, they seemed to have wait for her arrival. Jieun's eyes landed on Yoongi first, and he gave her a faint smile of acknowledgement, so she smiled back in return. 

She then turned her attention to Bang PD, and was fascinated to finally see Bang PD in person. The man behind BTS's success and the legend himself.

"Good afternoon, Jieun-ssi. Please, have a seat," Bang PD smiled warmly at Jieun. 

Jieun nodded and smiled politely then took a seat next to Yoongi. 

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr Bang."

"Aigoo.. No need to be so polite. You can just call me Bang PD." 

She nodded and called again with genuine smile. "Yes, Bang PD." 

Bang PD told her that he was very happy and excited when her company contacted them for this collaboration. He also told her that he loves her work and that he couldn't wait for the outcome of her collaboration with Yoongi. Jieun felt honor of course, that he acknowledge her as an artist. Just like what Jieun expected, Bang PD is a very kind and warm person. 

After a little chit chat, Bang PD excused himself and left the two alone so they can get closer and start brainstorming. They waited until they was sure that Bang PD had already left before gave a look at each other then burst out laughing. 

"Yah, why your expression is like that?" Yoongi said, in between laughter.

"I can ask you the same thing." Jieun slapped his arm playfully. 

"Aigoo.. I teared up from too much laughing." He dabbed his tear up eyes with his fingers.

"I never thought that pretending not to know each other is harder than acting in a drama. Do you know how many times I almost burst into laughter?" Jieun mirrored his action, dabbing her own eyes.

"Harder than I expected," he managed to say after composing himself. "I didn't even know why we do that. Should have just told Bang PD that we're friends."

"Well, at least since we're working together now it's only natural for us to be friends."

"Yeah.." Yoongi nodded.

"Okay then, should we start working now?" Jieun clapped her hands.

"Sure," Yoongi answered. "Actually I already started working on the track."

"Jinjja?" Jieun took out her notebook and stationery from her bag. "Let's continue from there, then."

They started working right away, brainstorming and exchanging idea. It was fun to work together. There's not many back and forth because they both shared the same ideas, which allowed them to be a great team and merged their creativity.

For Jieun, the procces was probably the most comfortable and casual than any other collaboration that she'd worked on before. Most likely because her partner was Yoongi this time. 

Yoongi suggested that they moved their work to his studio so he can show her the beat that he'd work on. She immediately agreed. She was actually rather curious about his infamous Genius Lab. 

Yoongi waited for her to pack her things back ro her backpack. To her surprise, Yoongi grabbed her bag and slinged it over his shoulder. She wanted to protest that she could carry her own bag, but Yoongi just shrugged casually, like it wasn't a big deal. So she let him in the end. 

They were on the way to his studio when Yoongi spotted two familiar face, leaning against the wall. They acted natural but it was clear from Yoongi's perspective that they were waiting for them. 

As soon as they saw Yoongi and Jieun, they both approached them. Taehyung had a grin plastered on his face, on the other hand while Jungkook seemed a little bit shy he also had a smile on his face. 

"Hyung.." Taehyung greeted Yoongi, he raised his eyebrow slightly when he saw Yoongi carried Jieun's backpack but decided to brushed it off for the moment and turned to Jieun then bow slightly. "IU sunbaenim."

"IU sunbaenim," Jungkook too, followed Taehyung's gesture. 

"Aigoo.. What's with the formal greeting? You made me feel old," Jieun waved her hands and answered in a friendly manner. 

Yoongi immediately remembered his promise to introduce Jungkook and Jieun, so he took an initiative. "You probably already knew them, but he's Taehyung or V or whatever you want to call him, and he's our maknae, Jungkook or JK." 

"Of course I know them. Who doesn't?" She smiled at the two, and it made Jungkook blushed slightly. 

"It's very nice to meet you," Taehyung smiled charmingly. 

"It's nice to meet you too, V-ssi."

Jungkook looked like he wanted to say something, but his voice failed him. Jieun thought his expression was very cute though, he really reminded her of his younger brother. 

"Are you going to the studio, hyung?" Taehyung turned to Yoongi and asked. 

"Yes," Yoongi felt that Taehyung tried to give him some kind of signal. It took a couple of seconds for him to understand what Taehyung tried to say. He glanced at Jieun then at Jungkook and back at Taehyung. "On second thought, I think I'll need some coffee first." 

"What a coincidence, I also need a drink. Can I come with you, hyung?" Taehyung expertly playing his part. 

"Yes," Yoongi then turned to Jieun who was giving him a questioning look. "You can wait in the studio, I'll buy you a drink," he then turned to Jungkook. "Jungkook, can you show her the way to my studio? You know the pass."

Jungkook's face lit up, he finally understood what his hyungs was trying to do. He would make sure to thank them later. 

"Yes hyung, of course."

Yoongi passed Jieun's bag to Jungkook, which he dutifully accepted. He briefly gave Jieun an apologetic look and then left just like that with Taehyung followed closely behind him. Jieun still had a confused look on her face. She thought it was so random that Yoongi suddenly felt like he wanted a coffee and it was clear that he was being weird. 

"Ehm, should we?" The sound of Jungkook's sweet voice brought her out of her thoughts. 

"Sorry, yes," she answered. Her eyes landed on her bag over Jungkook's shoulder. "I can carry it, you know," she stated. 

"I don't mind to carry it."

"But-"

"-it's fine," he said with a dismissive wave of hand. 

Jieun made a face but didn't comment about it any further. Jungkook then led her to elevator and pressed the button to 10th floor where Genius Lab at. He was being quiet, but it was clear in Jieun's eyes that the younger guy was quite nervous. She couldn't help but smile a little, because she thought it was cute. 

The elevator door opened, she then followed Jungkook's lead until they arrived in front of a door that has Genius Lab print attached on it. 

"Ehh, Yoongi hyung studio is the only one with bell and lock on his door," Jungkook informed as he input the password for the door.

Jieun nodded, unsurprised. She chuckled inwardly at Jungkook's revelation, it was so like Yoongi to do something like that, she wouldn't expect anything less. He surely valued his privacy. 

"Here we go," Jungkook opened the door and invited her to enter first. 

Jieun complied and entered. Her eyes immediately scanned the whole room. The room was quite spacious and dominated with black color as expected, since it was Yoongi's favorite color. There's a black couch at the corner of the room and some kind of mannequin wearing basketball jersey. Her eyes then landed on his producing equipment. There's microphone, computer, electric piano, and some other things that Jieun wasn't sure what it's called. She noted that the room's athmosphere was comfy despite being dominated by dark color, and it was pretty neat too. The room really spoke of it's owner. She could really picture this room as his. 

Jieun was still enjoying herself, but the sound of Jungkook's footsteps suddenly reminded her that she wasn't alone in this room. Her eyes spotted Jungkook who was standing awkwardly in front of the door. She cursed herself for being so insensitive. 

Jieun made a way to the couch and took a seat. When she saw that he hasn't move yet, she spoke, "Jungkook-ssi, do you mind acompany me for a while?"

Jungkook blinked thrice, he didn't expect that she would ask him to accompany her. He thought she would just going to dismiss him and he would berate himself for being a coward and loose his chanche to talk to her. So he was very grateful that she invited him first.

"Yes, of course," he managed to say after composing himself. 

He then took a seat on the couch beside Jieun and proceeded to place her bag in the middle of them. The athmosphere was super awkward, and it was silent once more. 

Jieun took her time to observed the guy beside her who apparently supposed to be her long time fans, but didn't even give her a glance right now. If it wasn't from a faint blush that traitorously crept on his cheeks, she would have doubt the credibility of that statement. 

Jieun wouldn't deny that Jungkook was indeed a handsome man. He has a beautiful big doe eyes and partial monolids. She thought, his jawline is his prominent feature and she noted that he has a few beauty marks on his face. She also heard that many people call him bunny, and for a good reason too, for some reason he did kinda remind her of a cute bunny. 

She never told anybody, especially not on TV from fearing of the backlash, but she actually found his voice very charming and beautiful that she often listen to his songs and cover too, even the one when he did a cover to one of her song. So she actually felt honour that he's a fan of her. 

Jieun heard from Yoongi that Jungkook could be quite shy, especially in front of a new people. But he would be less shy if the other parties take the initiative first. 

Honestly the awkwardness was killing her and she would be damn if she let this drag on any longer. So as a good senior, she decided to take the initiative.

"Thanks for the food truck by the way," Jieun spoke, breaking the silence. 

"Huh?" Jungkook seemed a bit confused. 

"Well, I mean you actually sent the food truck for Jingoo. But I also enjoyed it, so thank you," Jieun said casually.

"Ahh, that.." Jungkook scratched his neck. "I'm glad that you enjoyed it."

"Jingoo talked about you quite a lot, you know."

His eyes widen. "Did he? Only a good thing, I hope."

Jieun chuckled. "Don't worry, he really only talked a good things about you."

"That's a relief then," he smiled, showing his trademark bunny smile.

"I think your friendship is cute."

"Well, we became friends through a mutual friends, and since Jingoo and I are the same age we got along pretty quick."

"Yes, he told me that. He said that you both have similar personalities, that's why he likes to hangout with you."

"I guess so, we did both kinda have similar personalities," he grinned.

Jieun could see that the tension was gradually lessen between them, and he was started being less shy and talk more. That's a good thing then. 

"It's nice to have a same age friend," Jieun said. 

Jungkook nodded, agree with her. "You and Yoongi hyung is the same age right?" he asked. 

"Yes," Jieun nodded. "This is the first time I'm doing a collaboration with the same age artist. So I think the process will be more comfortable."

"That's a good thing, then. Yoongi hyung is a genius producer, so I'm sure the outcome will turn out great no matter what," he paused before continuing. "But it made me kinda envy him, though."

Jieun quirked her brow, "why?"

"I envy his musical talent. I don't think I have a talent at producing-"

-SMACK

Jungkook was very shocked when Jieun's tiny palm suddenly collided with his back, resulting a loud smack sound even though it didn't hurt.

"What kind of nonsense did you spouting?" she blurted out. 

Jungkook was flabbergasted, he didn't expect that IU would react like that, let alone slapping his back in a friendly manner. He was gaping like a fish out of water. 

His expression brought Jieun to her senses and she was completely bewildered by her own action. She gasped and put her palm to cover her mouth. Jungkook really reminded her of his younger brother, so she just unconsciously did what she usually did with her younger brother. She mentally slapped herself, why would she even smack him anyway? Did she loose her mind or what? 

"Oh my God, I'm sorry.. I didn't know why I did that, I must be crazy." Jieun knocked her own head and looked at him worriedly. "Does it hurt?"

A soft laugh emerged from the younger guy, "no, no, it didn't hurt at all. I was just surprised, didn't expect you would react like that."

"I'm sorry, my hand just moved unconsciously," Jieun grimaced at her own lame excuses. "But it was your fault, you know."

Jungkook quirked his eyebrow.

Jieun sighed, "I just thought that it was nonsense when you said that you didn't have talent at producing. I love 'Magic Shop', you know."

She had stunned him into silence. Jungkook was staring at her with wide eyes, his jaw slightly hanging open at her words. 

"You knew that I produced that song?" Jungkook managed to say after a few seconds. 

"Of course."

"Wow.." Jungkook blinked his eyes in disbelief. 

Jieun chuckled at his response, "is it that surprising that I know?"

Jungkook blushed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry. I just didn't expect you would know about that."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I also quite fond of your voice, if you must know."

His eyes widen "Really?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I really like your cover of 'Ending Scene' by the way."

"You listened to my cover?" he asked. 

"Yes," Jieun patted his arm lighty. "You're an amazing singer Jungkook-ssi, give yourself some credit, please."

Jungkook scratched his neck and blushed a little, "I'm not usually like this."

Jieun chuckled. She suddenly got an idea to tease him."I heard you're such a big fan of mine. So Jungkook-sshi, what's about me that you like so much?"

Jieun surprised him with the bold question. She laughed at his shock expression. She was actually a little embarrassed to ask such question, but his cute expression only made her want to tease him more. So she couldn't help it.

Jungkook tried to look away to compose himself. He cleared his throat while trying to arrange his words properly. The day when he would get nervous around girl had already passed, but the girl beside him wasn't an ordinary one. He liked her for so long and for him to get the chance to talk so civilly like this with her was like once in a lifetime chance. 

"Well, please don't think of me as creepy fan, but what's not to like about you, sunbaenim?" he said. 

"Then, tell me," Jieun pushed him. 

"I've known you before I started my training years ago. First, I really like your voice and your music. I always think that your music is unique. You're also a great actress. Then, you are cute and pretty at the same time," he mumbled as he said the last sentence, tried to look anywhere but the girl beside him. 

"I'm so honored to have a fan as famous as you," she smiled genuinely. "Well, I also like your group too. You guys are so energetic and happening which is an opposite of mine. I really think that you guys are truly amazing," she confessed. 

"Am I dreaming?" Jungkook said while pinching both of his cheeks. 

Jieun laughed. "Why?"

"Me, talking to you like this. It only happens in dream, right?" he asked. 

"Aisshh, Jungkook-ssi. Stop embarrassing me," Jieun replied. 

Jungkook smiled. Despite of the pain he felt after pinching his cheeks, he still thought that he was currently dreaming. If this was a dream, he wished to sleep a little longer so that he can stay with her longer. 

"So, what about you call me noona instead of sunbaenim? It sounds so stiff and uncomfortable. Besides, you kinda remind me of my younger brother." she suggested. She held her right hand towards him, offering handshake. 

Jungkook looked at her small hand while considering. Strangely, he didn't like to hear that he reminds her of her younger brother. But if becoming her dongsaeng made her close to him, then that was a good start. 

"I'm honored," he said while accepting her handshake. "You can also call me Jungkook instead of Jungkook-ssi, then."

"Sure," she smiled. "So Jungkook, what's your favorite song of mine?" she asked out of curiosity. 

"Hmm, there's too many since I never missed out any of your album. But I personally like 'Knee', 'Though The Night', and also 'Dear Name'. Oh, and 'Ending Scene' too, as you already know, I did a cover of that song," he answered. 

"Jinjja? You never miss any of my album," Jieun asked. 

He nodded shyly. "Your album is the first album that I ever bought."

"I'm honored that you like my song so much," she smiled but then she took a deep breath and sighed. "Actually, I have a lot to worry, especially about this project. Like you said, Yo-, Suga is a genius, and you guys are very popular. So people will have a high expectations about this collab. But I don't know if I can meet their expectations or not." 

"I think you don't have to worry, noona. I personally think that you're a great songwriter and singer," he complimented her. 

Jieun laughed softly. "Thank you for saying that."

"I really mean it," he reassured. 

Jieun was grateful for his encouraging words. She thought that it was pretty fun talking with Jungkook. In opposite of Yoongi, he was quite simple and easy to read but has a big passion inside of him at the same time. She could see that he could actually be an easy going person too, so she wouldn't mind having him around.

They continued to chat about a lot of things while waiting for Yoongi. The conversation flow smoothly when he wasn't as nervous as before. 

On the other hand, Jungkook would often secretly stole a glance at her in between their conversation. He couldn't believe that he was talking so casually with IU, but he was very happy at that exact moment. He didn't know what to make of it, because he never felt like that before, but it was a pleasant feeling nonthless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry for the late update. I tried to finish it sooner, but I got a massive writer's block. So it was kinda suck. 
> 
> So yeah, Jungkook finally meet IU. I'm not sure what his reaction would be, and that's one of the reason why it was hard for me to write this chapter. But at least, we all know that Jungkook is a fan of IU. Hahaha.. Do you guys notice that Jungkook's custom mic is purple and IU's favorite color is also purple? I really think that it would be great if they're together in real life. 
> 
> Lastly, thank you for reading my story and don't forget to leave a feedback. I purple you!! ^^


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